THUNDER ROAD

Live 18 Oct 1975 version

The screen door slams, Mary's dress sways
Like a vision she dances across the porch as the radio plays
Roy Orbison singing for the lonely
Hey that's me and I want you only
Don't turn me home again
I just can't face myself alone
Don't run back inside, darling you know just what I'm here for
So you're scared and you're thinking that maybe we ain't that young anymore
Well show a little faith, there's magic in the night
You ain't a beauty, but hey you're alright
Oh and that's alright with me

You can hide 'neath your covers and study your pain
Make crosses from your lovers, throw roses in the rain
Waste your summer praying in vain for a saviour to rise from these streets
Well now I'm no hero, that's understood
All the redemption I can offer, girl, is beneath this dirty hood
With a chance to make it good somehow
Hey what else can we do now
Except roll down the window and let the wind blow back your hair
Well the night's bustin' open, these two lanes will take us anywhere
We got one last chance to make it real
To trade in these wings on some wheels
Climb in back, heaven's waiting down on the tracks

And it's oh-oh come take my hand
We're riding out tonight to case the promised land
Oh oh oh Thunder Road, oh Thunder Road
It's lying out there like a killer in the sun
Hey I know it's late but we can make it if we run
Oh oh oh Thunder Road, sit tight, take hold, Thunder Road

Well I got this guitar and I learned how to make it talk
And my car's out back if you're ready to take that long walk
From your front porch to my front seat
The door's open but the ride it ain't free
I know you're lonely in those words that I ain't spoken
But tonight we'll be free, all the promises will be broken
There were ghosts in the eyes of all the boys you sent away
They haunt this dusty beach road in the skeleton frames of burned-out Chevrolets
They scream your name at night in the street
Your graduation gown lies in rags at their feet
And in the lonely cool before dawn
From your room you hear their engines roar on
But when you get to the porch they're gone on the wind, so Mary climb in
It's a town full of losers and I'm pulling outta here to win

Hoo-hoo
Ho-whoa
Whoa-whoa
Hmm-hmm

Page last updated: 20 Sep 2007

Info

The above lyrics are for the live 18 Oct 1975 (early show) performance of
THUNDER ROAD at The Roxy Theatre in West Hollywood, CA, during the Born To Run Tour. The
song was the show opener and was played in a slow arrangement featuring Roy Bittan on piano and
Bruce Springsteen on harmonica and vocals.

The 18 Oct 1975 early show at The Roxy Theatre was filmed by Arnold Levine
Productions on behalf of Mike Appel and Laurel Canyon. Bruce Springsteen now controls the footage,
but none of it has ever been published or seen.

Shortly after the mammoth Born In The USA Tour ended, Springsteen
decided to start working on a live album in November 1985. He and his manager and co-producer Jon
Landau began combing through concert tapes and came upon a stark voice-and-piano version of
THUNDER ROAD from the 18 Oct 1975 early show at The Roxy Theatre. They felt they could make what
biographer Dave Marsh later described as something that "wouldn't be a live album or a greatest
hits album so much as the next Bruce Springsteen album."

This live 18 Oct 1975 performance of THUNDER ROAD was included on the
Live/1975-85 box set in 1986. It's the opener of the box set and the only song from that
show (and the only from 1975) that was included on the box set.

The Live/1975-85 Box Set

With the Born In The USA album and tour, Bruce Springsteen & The E
Street Band reached the highest level of rock stardom. Columbia Records was expecting a follow up
studio album and tour that would, like it's predecessor, achieve a huge commercial success.
Instead, Springsteen released Live/1975-85, an over-three-hours-and-a-half-long live
compilation album consisting of 40 tracks recorded at various concerts between 1975 and 1985.

[Click thumbnail to enlarge/reduce artwork]

The set was produced by Jon Landau, Chuck Plotkin, and Bruce Springsteen, and
hit the stores on 10 Nov 1986. It was released as a box set with either five vinyl records, three
cassettes, or three CDs. Live/1975-85 is the first album to be credited to "Bruce
Springsteen & The E Street Band" instead of "Bruce Springsteen" only.

The highly-anticipated live album generated advance orders of more than 1.5
million copies, making it the largest dollar-volume pre-order in the history of the record
business at the time. Record stores around the country found fans waiting in line on Monday
morning before opening and one New York store reportedly sold the album right off the back of the
delivery truck. The album debuted at #1 on the Billboard album chart and also became the
first five-record set to reach the top 10 and the first to sell over a million copies.
Live/1975-85 is the second-best-selling live album in U.S. history based on RIAA
certification. It has been certified by the RIAA for 13 times platinum, trailing only Garth
Brooks' Double Live.

Recorded live on 20 Aug 1984 at Brendan Byrne Arena, East Rutherford, NJ

13.

JERSEY GIRL

Recorded live on 09 Jul 1981 at Brendan Byrne Arena, East Rutherford, NJ

Other Official Releases

Besides its release on the Live/1975-85 box set, this 18 Oct 1975
version of THUNDER ROAD can also be found on three Bruce Springsteen Live/1975-85
samplers and three Bruce Springsteen promo-only samplers.

Sampler compiling 10 tracks from the Live/1975-85 box set. The cassette version omits
one track from the original tracklisting. The Venezuela issue, which features the same overall
packaging as the Brazil issue, is appropriately titled "En Vivo" (Spanish) instead of "Ao Vivo"
(Portuguese).

Japan-only promotional "Digest" CD-R advance sampler tying in with the release of the Japanese
2005 "mini-LP"-style CD album reissue of Live/1975-85. This disc comes in a plain
slimline jewel case with no artwork.

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band -- PBS Exclusive

CD – Columbia (82876 75932 2) – USA, 2005

US-only promotional CD sampler exclusively available to donors supporting the "Public
Broadcasting Service" (PBS) programming with a $60 "pledge", and contains 7 live tracks compiled
off the Live/1975-85 box set, the Live In New York City album, and the
Live In Barcelona DVD.